Know Before You Go - Creating the best Family Vacation Part I

Summer is coming!!  It’s nearly here and if you’re anything like me you’re solar powered and the sun and heat actually feel like fuel to your soul.  *Face up, arms out, smiling at the sunshine*  

Summer also brings on time off and vacations.  Family vacation!!! It's what we wait for, save for, plan for.  It’s the relaxing, the fun, the smiles, the laughs, the memories.  It can also be a frustration, a major stressor, create disappointment and even be labeled a disaster if we don’t do our due diligence beforehand and walk in with a realistic view of what kind of vacation we want to have.  

Let’s talk about planning a family vacation.  Let’s see if we can bring back the fun and enjoyment for all involved and remember that the goal is to create family memories not just serve up the same stress of life in a new location albeit on the beach or surrounded by mountains.   

Being mom to a family of six we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to plan and prepare for the perfect vacation.  Afterall, we want to create the best memories for our kids.  Let me ask you though, at what cost?  Your sanity, your finances, your peace??  Of course, we always throw in a little dash of “mom guilt,” sprinkle in a little, “panic,” and decide a splash of “backburner” will be okay for us again this year. ( Dads, I’m talking to you too!)  As parents we can somehow count ourselves out and forget that this vacation is for the family… not just the kids, not just the adults… for the family.  This means that everyone is included and planned for.  

Let’s start at the beginning… maybe you have some place you go every year.  Great!  Do you want to go there?  Maybe there’s something new you’d like to do.  Consider the kid’s ages and stages, what age and stage are you?  Do you want to tromp through theme parks or do you want to lounge on a beach?  Do you want to even be on a beach?  This is your vacation so decide where you want to go and how you’ll spend your time and money.  

Now, I do understand that not everyone has the freedom to take multiple trips during a year, so if Aunt Myrtle wants you to visit you have to decide if that’s how you want to spend your time.  If yes, wonderful!  Plan to visit Aunt Myrtle.  If not, well, it’s time to start owning up that you’re an adult and get to make your own decisions.  

I remember the first time after my husband and I were married that we decided we weren’t going to visit family for Christmas.  We had Christmas leave (military family) our son had just been born and we were excited to wake up on Christmas morning as our own little family, start our own traditions and be in our own home.  It was a hard decision and it was difficult to explain to all the grandparents that we’d be absent that year.  But when we stepped back and looked at it, it was expensive, difficult to travel with a newborn and our heart wasn’t in it.  At the end of the day we had gracious families and they understood our why.  Not everyone will experience the same grace but again I ask you, is it worth it?  

Okay, so now we’ve broken Aunt Myrtle’s heart but we’re hopeful of having a great vacation (maybe you can barter a deal to get her out to your place for an extended weekend sometime soon… travel works both ways… extenuating circumstances in some cases create difficulties, however, under good circumstances if they’re not willing to come to you, think twice about what you’re willing to do… ugh, it sounds harsh when you write it out, but I think you know what I mean.)

Now you know the location.  Everyone is excited.  Next, it’s time to start thinking about activities, food, lodging, transportation, all the things… Here’s my best advice from my own travel success and debackles… Know Before You Go.  

Let me as briefly as possible go through the list here… know about your hotel/resort/airbnb, etc...  Besides the picture from the first hit of the website, do your research.  Check YouTube for walkthroughs and ground tours.  Read carefully the description of the amenities.  Call and actually speak to someone at the location you are going to and ask the questions… not the customer service line that’s a thousand miles away and the person answering has never stayed there.  

Find out about what matters to your family. What’s going to make this feel more like a vacation?  Maybe it’s onsite food/dining or there’s a meal plan or package you’ve bought into, get all the details.  Maybe it’s nearby restaurants you’ve been wanting to try.  Maybe it’s having Instacart deliver groceries and you cook in your vacation “home” for the time your away.  Whatever you love and desire to do, find out if it’s possible.  Look into walking trails, gyms, pools, spas, laundry, work/business centers.  Find out about what the in-room amenities are for your specific room.  Sometimes what’s listed and what you get are not the same.  Curb the possibility of disappointment and find out with a few phone calls or searches what the reality is. It’s worth the time.  

While you have someone actually on location speaking to you, ask about transportation, parking, distance between location and activities, provided shuttles or vans.  Some locations provide transportation if they are associated with activities in their area and some do not.  Find out about parking at your planned activities too.  Some venues have free parking, paid parking, no parking… Know before you go.  

And lastly in the Know Before You Go category, and this should have probably been at the top of the choosing a location… do your due diligence on getting the best price for where you are staying.  Check about price matching (internet deals can be amazing but so can direct contact to a specific location)  and common discounts such as military, AARP, AAA and other company discounts.  Can you get points on your debit or credit card?  Do they have a worthwhile member’s program?  These are all things to consider when booking your location as well.  Get yourself the best deals so you can save the extra for amazing souvenirs or groceries when you get home.

Vacations can be an amazing opportunity to make fabulous memories.  The work you put in will be worth it.  One last little tidbit, include as many of your family members as possible on decision making, everyone will have buy-in for the decisions made and be more excited for the experience when it’s actually time to go!